Manufacture of hats.



PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

F. J, MUHLPELD.

MANUFACTURE OF HATS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18. 1905.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET l M1550 i.- %M.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed February 18, 1905. Serial No. 246,234.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS J. MUHLFELD, a citizen of the United States,whose residence is 1117 Dawson street, borough of Bronx, in the city,county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Manufacture of Hats, fully described and representedin the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming apart of the same.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of such hats as areexpanded above the head-band to a size greater than the headopening; andthe invention consists, first, in a process of manufacturing such hatsfrom felt or any material which can be stretched when steamed, and,second, in hats of a certain class which can be made by such process.

The process of the present invention consists in first contracting aportion of the fabric to the size of the head-band and fastening orclamping suchhead-band and then expanding or shaping the remainingportion. By this method I utilize the first-formed band as a point ofresistance in expanding the portion of the body above the band to therequired size for blocking into the desired shape, which enables me tostretch the felt with great facility.

The particular product claimed herein is a one-piece seamless andbrimless felt hat or cap expanded larger than the head-opening andhaving the outside of the hat formed of only one side of the fabric orhaving the edge of the fabric forming part of the head-band. In such anarticle the felt is continuous inwardly from the hollow or expandedperiphery to the head-band.

While the article is limited to abrimless construction, I can apply myaforesaid process equally well to bats which are so constructed that thesame side of the felt forms the outside of all parts of the hat and tohate which are so constructed that certain parts thereof display adifferent side from that which is displayed on the other parts, theprocess not being limited to the manufacture of either kind exclusively.

I will first describe the process and then define the particular articleof manufacture which is claimed herein.

In order to render the application of my invention clearer, Ishallhereinafter, first, particularly describe the application of the processin making those hats which have the same side of the felt upon theoutside of all parts of the hat, and, second, shall more briefly referto the application of my process to the making of hats in whichdifferent sides of the felt are displayed on different parts of the hat.A tam-o-shanter made of felt in one piece is an illustration of thefirst product, and a ladys hat with a bell-crown and a brim of singlethickness is an illustration of the second.

It will be understood that the term hat is used herein to express allkinds of headgear which can be made by this process, and the term bandor head-band is sometimes used to include the mere head-opening whenreferred to in connection with the finished hat. The term felt as usedherein includes felt made of fur or wool, and the single piece of fabricwhich is used (independent of trimming, vizors, &c.) to make the hat maybe of flat, conical, or any other desired shape that can be converted byblocking into a hollow hat and referred to as the body:

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings,in which Figure 1 represents the conical form of felt body commonlyemployed in making a felt hat. Fig. 2 represents a suitable hatbodyblocked into substantially cylindrical shape and a portion clamped at apoint intended for the head-band. Fig. 3 represents such blocked body insection with the upper portion turned inside the lower portion andstretching-fingers within the inturned portion. Fig. 4 represents thefelt upon such an inturned' body grasped by stretching-fingers. Fig. 5represents the stretched body in readiness for blocking to the finishedshape. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of a body upon a hatblock adapted toshape a toque. Fig. 7 shows the under side of the body and hatblockrepresented in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a vertical section of a hat having adouble crown, the upper crown being bell-shaped. Fig. 9 is a perspectiveview of a hat with a double crown, the upper crown having a bulbousshape. Fig. 10 is a cross-section of the same, and Fig. 11 is across-section of a one-piece felt tam-o-shanter.

a designates the body in Fig. 2 stretched upon a block A to bring theportion intended for the head-band to the desired size, and a comparisonof Figs. 1 and 2 makes it evident that the upper part of the conicalfelt is stretchedby pulling downwardly upon the block the portionintended for the head-band and that such portion is simultaneouslycontracted or drawn inwardly, so that it may be finally clamped in thesize desired for the head-band. After thus blocking, a ring (Z (shown inFigs. 3 and 4) may be inserted within the band and a strap 6 clampedoutside the felt, which fastens or clamps the head-band between the twoand holds the same in the desired size during the expansion of thecrown.

It is immaterial what means he used to hold or clamp the head-band, as acord may be used to produce the clamping pressure or external orinternal rings may be employed, which have their adjacent faces conicalto admit of crowding one within the other. It is obvious that when theportion intended for the head-band is thus clamped or fastened theportion above the head-band may be readily expanded by means of theoperators fingers or by any mechanical agency producing pressureinternally or grasping the felt externally and stretching it.

.Fig. 3 shows the upper half of the body turned inwardly forming anannular fold a and fingers 0' within the inturned portion, which wouldoperate powerfully when separated to stretch the felt outwardly. Such anannular fold may be formed upon the hatbody without turning it inwardly,and however formed it may be readily grasped by stretchers f, as shownin Fig. 4, and the fold pulled outwardly to stretch the felt in thedesired manner. Whatever means be employed, the felt is graduallystretched outward, as shown in Fig. 5, to the size required forinserting the desired hat-block, and the parts of a sectional hat-blockare then readily inserted through the opening of the ring d and the hatblocked to the desired shape.

The sectional hat-block is shown in Figs. 6-

and 7 with a shank g small enough to lit inside the metallic ring (Z anda bulbous head It adapted to give the desired shape above the band. i

It is obvious that the part shown clamped between the metallic rings inFigs. 3 to 7. inclusive, forms a cylindrical collar upon the hat, whichmay be given any desired shape to form the hat-band.

Besides the toque shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the drawings illustrate twoforms of doublecrowned hats, in which the upper crown is shown smallerthan the lower crown. In Fig. 8 the lower crown Z: is of the samecharacter as a tam-oshanter crown and the upper crown Z is very muchsmaller, so as to present a striking contrast to-the lower crown. InFigs. 9 and 10 the lower crown is like a tamoshanter crown and the uppercrown is of the same flattened bulbous character, but somewhat smallerand set eccentric upon the lower crown. This form is made after thecrown has been suitably expanded by blocking the hat upon a groovedblock of suitable shape and cording the felt into the groove between theupper and lower crowns. Fig. 11 shows a tam-oshanter with the usualflattened bulbous crown m and annular headband F.

From the above description it will be seen that the process may be usedto make any style of hat which has the upper portion expanded largerthan the head-band. and it is entirely immaterial to the process whatmeans be employed. to expand the hat after the band is formed, as theessential feature of the process is the formation of the band and thefastening of the same before the upper portion of the hat is expanded.

The width of head-band which is formed before the upper portion isexpanded is wholly immaterial, and a wire or other narrow clamping-strapmay be used instead of the flat strap shown in the drawings, and anydesired means may be used to maintain the size of the headband duringthe expanding of the crown.

In all of the forms illustrated only one side of the felt is displayedupon the entire outside of the hat, and the felt extends continuouslyinward from the periphery of the hat to the head-band and the edge ofthe fabric forms a part of the head-band, and such class of hats is thatto which specific claim is made herein. The process may, however. beused for making hats with a brim of single thickness, which is eifectedby forming and clamping a head-band upon the fabric at such a dis tancefrom the edge of the fabric that a brim can be formed of the portionbelow the band and an expanded crown can be formed by stretching theportion above the band. In such a product both sides of the felt would ishow upon difierent portions of the finished hat, and it will thereforebe clearly understood that the process is not limited to the manufactureof any particular class of hats.

The product illustrated in various forms of the drawings isdistinguished from all those heretofore made from a single piece ofscamless fabric in having the upper portion expanded larger than thehead-opening and having the outside of the hat formed of only one sideof the fabric, and the edge of the fabric forming part of the head-band.Where this new product is blocked to form a hollow crown, it includes anextension of the felt inwardly and continuously from the periphery ofthe crown to the head-band, and the felt upon the under side of thehollow crown may be extended inwardly to the head-band in a planetransverse to the axis of the head-band. V here a cylindrical head-bandis desired, the felt is bent abruptly from such transverse plane to formthe head-band.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimedherein is l. The process of manufacturing hats from a single piece ofsuitable fabric, consisting in first contracting a portion of the fabricto the size of the head-band, second, fastening said portion, thenexpanding the portion above the head-band, and finally shaping the hat.

2. The process of making a seamless onepiece felt hat, which consists infirst blocking a head-band upon the body, second, fastening the portionintended for the band, and third, expanding the portion above such bandto the desired size and shape.

3. The process of making a seamless onepiece felt hat, which consists infirst blocking a head-band upon the body, second, tightly clamping aportion of the body at the point intended for the band, third, forming afold around the part above the clamped portion, and fourth, expandingthe folded portion by an outward tension.

4. The process of making a seamless onepiece felt hat, which consistsfirst, in blocking the body into substantially cylindrical shape,second, tightly clampinga portion of the body at a suitable point forthe band, third, expanding the portion above such band to a suitablesize for blocking, and fourth, blocking such expanded portion upon ablock larger than the band.

5. The process of making a seamless onepiece felt hat, which consistsfirst, in blocking the body to contract a part of the same into the sizedesired for the band, second, clamping the band with a large apertureinside the band, third, expanding the portion above such band to thedesired size, and fourth, operating through the interior of the band andblock ing the hat in the desired shape.

6. The process of making a one-piece felt hat with an expanded crown,which consists in first blocking the body into substantially cylindricalshape, second, firmly clamping the portion intended for the band, third,turning the upper part inwardly to form a fold with double thickness atthe, fold, and fourth, stretching the folded portion to expand the bodyabove the band.

7. The process of making a one-piece felt hat with an expanded crown,which consists in first blocking the body into substantially.

a hat to shape the expanded crown above the band.

8. The process of making a one-piece felt hat with an expanded crown,which consists in first blocking the body into substantially cylindricalshape, second, firmly clamping the portion intended for the band, third,turning the upper part inwardly to form a fold, with double thickness atthe fold, and fourth, ex-

panding the inverted and folded portion of the crown by internalpressure.

9. As a new article of manufacture, a onepiece brimless and seamlessfelt hat or cap expanded larger than the head-opening and having theoutside of the hat formed of only one side of the fabric.

10. As a new article of manufacture, a onepiece seamless and brimlessfelt hat expanded larger than the head-opening and having the expandedportion of the felt upon the under side of the hollow crown extendedinwardly to the head-band in a plane transverse to the axis of the band.

11. As a new article of manufacture, a onepiece seamless and brimlessfelt hat expandedlarger than the head-opening, and havingthe under sideof the crown approximately flat, with an integral head-band projected atright angles thereto.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRANCIS J. MUHLFELD.

Witnesses:

THOMAS E. CRANE, E. J. MAGCREADY.

